eleven
2548 Words
El and Emma had decided that they were going to speak with Appie today. It was going to be a long discussion. Away from Bee. Just the three girls.
“Maybe we can go out for lunch,” Emma suggested.
“Sure,” El agreed. “It’s been a while since we went to our favourite Chinese restaurant. I’m sure that’s what you’ve got in mind.”
“Yes,” Emma agreed. “Egg noodles for you. Hakka noodles for me.”
“With pepper. Don’t forget the pepper.”
“Yeah. Pepper. That’s the best part.”
They had a laugh. And the seriousness was lifted if only a bit and for a brief moment. They would take all they could get.
The plan was simple. Emma would drive over, like most mornings. El’s uncle’s apartment was closer to the college, and if Emma were to pick the right road, she would have to drive past El’s building. And that was how they were going to do it.
Emma messaged before starting. It would take her three minutes to ride the elevator down the six stories, get to her scooter, put on the helmet, start the scooter and drive over.
El was on her scooter, ready and waiting.
The two friends shared a look and a nod, acknowledging each other, and started off for college.
“Message me,” Emma said, as they parked their scooters and headed for class. This was one of those times when their being in different departments proved a hassle. “Don’t keep me waiting.”
“Yeah, I will,” El said.
After a cheerful smile and a small wave, they separated.
El walked in the classroom and sat in her seat. She was a little early today. There was time for the start of first class. And there was time for the arrival of Appie along with her besties. El was sure it wouldn’t be a difficult wait.
She wasn’t wrong. It wasn’t a long or a difficult wait. It was what happened after that was incredibly difficult. Nina and Sophie and Milly walked in together. But Appie wasn’t with them. And the girls didn’t have a happy smile on their faces. At least, Nina and Sophie didn’t. They were frowning so deep, it was unmistakeable.
“What’s wrong?” El asked.
They might not be besties, but they were friends.
“Appie might not be coming today,” Milly explained.
El’s face fell. And she immediately understood what it was about the expression on Nina and Sophie’s faces that got to her. She was sure she looked the same.
“Why?” El asked.
“Who knows,” Nina grumbled as if complaining. “Not like she tells us. She’s got a new friend now.”
“Come on Nina,” Sophie said. “Don’t be like that.”
“How else can I be?” Nina said. She looked at El, deeply, as if struggling with a question. When she decided, her lips parted. “El, you tell me. What do you think about Bee?”
“What do you mean?” El asked, stunned.
“Appie likes him,” Sophie said. Her voice low, reminded the other girls to keep their voices down too.
Milly sighed, and continued. “She told us. Well, we noticed it first. We asked her. She then said it, herself. She liked Bee. I guess we’re now divided into two camps. Against it. Okay with it.”
“You’re the only one okay with it,” Nina said to Milly. “That’s not a camp. That’s a rebel. We are a camp. Against it.”
Milly sighed in defeat.
“So,” Nina asked El again. “What do you think?”
“About Bee?” EL asked. “I don’t know. If I have to pick, I’d go to your camp.”
“Against,” Nina said.
“Yeah,” El said. “Against. So, what’s going on right now?”
“We had a disagreement last night,” Sophie explained. “The whole thing, the conversation, the questioning, happened last night. Appie didn’t like it that we were against it. She wasn’t at the bus stop today. We even walked to her home. It was locked. She clearly left. Definitely with Bee. And she isn’t here. Not a difficult guess. She clearly made other plans with Bee. And we’re not invited.”
“And she won’t reply to our messages,” Nina said.
“And won’t answer our phone calls,” Sophie said.
“Damn,” El swore.
“Yeah,” Nina said. “Damn. I hate doing this, but I don’t have a choice.”
“What are you doing?” Milly asked.
“Stay quiet, Milly,” Nina said.
Sophie gave Milly a look that said she was with Nina.
Milly had no choice but to stay put.
Nina took her phone. Searched the contacts list for Appie’s mother’s name. And called. She put the call on speaker, and lowered the volume, so it stayed between them. The call connected. The phone rang and rang, but Appie’s mother didn’t answer.
Class was starting, so they had to give up. The best they could do now was spam Appie’s phone with messages and calls, so at some point Appie would have no choice but to submit and reply.
By lunch, it was them who faced defeat.
“She might not have seen her phone at all,” Milly said.
Milly was only voicing what was on everyone’s mind. But no one appreciated it. They glared at her. And Milly had to fall silent.
“I’m leaving now,” El said. “Skipping afternoon classes.”
“Why?” Nina asked. “You have plans too?”
“Actually, yeah,” El said. “Emma and I had plans. I’ll keep messaging while I can.”
El left. She had already messaged Emma, bringing Emma up to speed. She had also borrowed Appie’s mother’s phone number from Nina’s phone. And that was where she and Emma were headed now. To meet with Appie’s mother.
“I’m not sure this is right,” Emma said, as they got onto their scooters.
“I’m not either,” El confessed. “But desperate times call for desperate measures. Appie and Bee didn’t come to class today. They went out. Just the two of them. It’s a date. If he invites her to his place, they will make out. They will go too far. And there is no returning from that. We can’t let that happen.”
“If that is the big worry, why don’t we just go straight over to his place?” Emma asked.
“And then what? How do we explain how we know his place? Say we can explain that away, somehow, we aren’t even sure they are at his place. What if we go, and there’s no one home? What then? How long can we keep chasing after them? Nina’s right. We do need to talk to Appie’s mother. We need her, if we are to pull this off.”
“If we are to separate Appie and Bee.”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s try calling Appie one more time?”
They tried. The result was the same. Appie wouldn’t answer the call. And she wouldn’t reply to the messages.
Emma sighed in defeat. El keyed in Appie’s mother’s phone number and pressed call.
The call was answered after a few rings. A woman with a pleasant voice spoke from the other end.
El had never really spoken with Appie’s parents. She could never have imagined that the first time would be like this.
“Ma’am, good afternoon,” El said into the phone. “My name is El. I’m in the same class as your daughter Appie. I was wondering if it was possible to meet with you now. I would like to talk to you.”
“It’s about my daughter?”
“Yes,” El said.
“And it’s important?”
“Yes.”
“It can’t wait.”
“No. I’m sorry. It really can’t.”
“Appie doesn’t know, does she?”
“No.”
“Alright. Have you had your lunch yet?”
“No.”
“Okay. Let’s talk over lunch. Any place you like?”
El gave the name of her and Emma’s favourite restaurant, where they planned to have a long conversation with Appie. Now, they were instead meeting with Appie’s mother.
A half hour later, they were in the restaurant. Sitting at a table. Appie’s mother on one side. El and Emma on the other.
Emma felt awkward. This was her first time in such a situation. She had no clue about what to do and how to act. But she couldn’t escape. She couldn’t leave her best friend all alone in such a difficult situation. El needed her, and she had to be here. She clenched her hands under the table, on her legs. And sat glued to the chair.
El, on the other hand, was in a completely different space. Yes, this was awkward. Yes, this wasn’t an easy situation. Yes, she was still pretty much clueless about what she was going to say. She wasn’t even entirely sure what was guiding her actions.
But this wasn’t the first time El was facing an impossible situation. She had plenty of experience with impossible situations. She had a lifetime’s worth of experience.
-
El knew Bee was back. He had gotten accepted into the business school he wanted to get into. And weeks after the end of college, he left. He flew away two thousand kilometres, to the new school, to a new city, to a new world and a new life. A world and a life she wasn’t a part of. And when she heard that he had returned home for the holidays, she couldn’t stay away. She had to meet him. She had to see him.
She kept calling him. She kept sending him messages. All morning. She couldn’t get to him. His phone was switched off. And she was sure he did that to keep her away.
The only choice left for her was to go straight over to his home.
The first time he invited her to his home, it was the day after they were together. He gave her a tour of the apartment. The tour ended in his room. She had her back against the wall, the bed in front of her. He leaned in. His hands were on either side, blocking her escape. Her heart was beating hard and loud, as she looked into his face. She stood frozen as his face leaned into hers. And she felt something explode inside her, when his lips found hers. Her first kiss. It was a beautiful moment. It was a beautiful feeling. One she would never forget. In that moment, as their lips danced to a beautiful celestial tune, two pairs becoming one, it truly sunk in. She was no longer one. She was no longer alone. She was truly and completely in love.
She wrapped her arms around him, and opened her heart fully. Letting him in. Permanently.
Now, as she thought about going over, it was that moment from that day that first came to her mind.
She was dazed, enough to silence the doubt and make the decision. She got onto her scooter. And drove over. She made it to his building. She knew how to get in past the security. He showed her and taught her. And the innumerable times she had come over had been practice enough to perfect it. Even though it had been months since the last time she came over, she wasn’t rusty. She made it past the security while they were distracted. Got in without getting caught.
And she stopped in the parking underneath the building. She came her. But now what? His phone was still switched off. She couldn’t go up, could she? Who knew who was home? What if his parents and the rest of the extended family was home, to see him? What should she do?
Clueless, and helpless, she sat herself on the scooter, under the building, for a long time. Unable to make a decision. In the end, she couldn’t bring herself to leave without seeing him and talking with him, and so she had to call for help. She called Abe. She explained the situation. She was under Bee’s building. She couldn’t go up. Bee’s phone was switched off, so she couldn’t reach him. She asked for Abe’s help.
Abe drove over. He went up to the apartment. Rang the doorbell. When the door opened, he saw that there were a lot of people. El was right. The whole family was here for Bee. He asked to see Bee. Was told that Bee was resting. But a cousin woke Bee up, brought him out. Bee followed Abe downstairs. Abe left Bee with El, and drove back home.
El motioned for Bee to sit with her on the scooter. He did as she asked. She felt him near. She felt the heat from his body. She felt his breath. She felt his touch, as their arms came into contact from them sitting so close. She felt her heart go soft. And she felt the tears well up in her eyes.
She spoke only one word. Asked the one question she never could get the answer to.
“Why?”
He didn’t give an answer this time either.
They just sat in silence. Ten minutes. Fifteen minutes.
And then, she asked him to go back up. She got onto the scooter. And drove away. She saw him in the rear view mirror, looking at her leave. And she felt her heart break, again.
This was one of those impossibly difficult moments that she would never forget.
A few years later, she would be standing against the door inside her apartment. Bawling her eyes out. Stifling her sobs with her hands pressed hard over her lips. While he left. Bee had come over. Spent the day and the night with her. She felt so happy, so complete while he was here. And then, he left. Inevitably. And she felt like her heart was dug out, every time. Every time was more painful than she had words to describe it.
-
El shook her head, clearing the hazy memories from another lifetime. No, she told herself. None of that had happened. Her heart was fine. She was fine. This was another lifetime. She was another person. She wouldn’t let herself be hurt, again. She wouldn’t let anyone be hurt by that horrible person, by the deceptive Bee.
Her head clear. And the decision made. El looked up at Appie's mother, met the older woman’s eyes. And began.
“I, we, want to talk to you about Appie. And the boy she likes. Bee.”
“Yes,” Appie’s mother said. “But, I’m sorry, let’s just wait a while.”
El nodded. And before she could ask what, or who, they were waiting for, she had the answer. Two more joined them at the table. On the other side.
- Writer
